Adverse effects of equal opportunities policies (Lennartz, Proost, & Brebels, 2019)

This home study course entails the independent study of "Adverse effects of equal opportunities policies" (Lennartz, Proost, & Brebels, 2019), followed by the completion of a multiple-choice test on-line. Participants who receive a passing grade of 75% or higher on the test will receive 1 CE credit. In accordance with guidance from the APA CE office, we are limiting the number of chances to take the test to 2 times. Participants who fail the test may retake the test once at no additional charge, and receive CE credit if they do pass.

A copy of the journal article for this course is available, at the Article website.

Upon completion of this home study program, the participant will be able to:

1. Describe the methodology employed in each of the three studies to test the hypotheses.
2. Describe the findings of the research in terms of the authors’ three hypotheses.
3. Describe the unexpected, possibly harmful effects of companies publicizing the success of equal opportunity policies.
4. Explain why employees are more likely to express racial prejudice in ambiguous contexts.

This CE program is intended for psychologists who hold a doctoral degree. The course may be taken by other interested professionals (e.g.,senior human resource executives and consultants; upper-level managers).

The fee for this home-study program is $10, which is $10 per CE credit. The fee is fully refundable for 60 days or until the post-test is taken, whichever comes first.

A copy of the journal article for this course is available, at the Article website.

The authors of the journal article you will read for this home-study course are Christopher Lennartz, Karin Proost, and Lieven Brebels from the Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven, in Brussels, Belgium.

Publication citation:

Lennartz, C., Proost, K. & Brebels, L. (2019). Decreasing overt discrimination increases covert discrimination: Adverse effects of equal opportunities policies. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 27, 129–138. Retrieved July, 2020, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ijsa.12244.

Article excerpt:

Building on the moral licensing literature, this paper examines whether highlighting the successful implementation of an equal opportunities policy in a company leads to covert forms of discrimination in hiring decisions (i.e., expressing a preference for a white candidate over an equally qualified black/Moroccan candidate in an ambiguous context). Furthermore, moral self-image is indirectly tested as a possible underlying mechanism. Two scenario studies first revealed that covert discrimination is more likely after highlighting a successful implementation of an equal opportunities policy in the company (study 1) and that elevated levels of moral self-image are related to covert discrimination (study 2).

APR Testing Services (APR) has no known conflict of interest with respect to this CE program. APR has not received any commercial support for this CE program.